Finance Manager/ Business Partner- Operations

The Planet Group; Longmont (CO); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

The Planet Group seeks a Finance Manager/Business Partner – Operations to serve as the primary financial advisor to Operations, Manufacturing, and Facilities within a PE-backed manufacturing environment. This hands-on role focuses on optimizing gross margin, cash flow, and capital efficiency while building scalable finance processes.

Responsibilities include budgeting, forecasting, and performance management, with collaboration across cross-functional leadership to drive profitability and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of FP&A experience including forecasting, budgeting, and business partnering.
• Experience enabling manufacturing operations with cost structure understanding.
• Advanced Excel proficiency required.
• Ability to engage with C-level management and influence decisions.
• Hands-on, proactive finance leader with strong judgment.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial planning, analysis, and performance management for Operations.
• Own budgets, forecasts, and monthly financial reviews with leadership.
• Analyze manufacturing costs, gross margin, productivity, and variances.
• Develop financial models to support capacity planning and manufacturing decisions.
• Partner with Operations to improve productivity, cost reduction, and cash flow.
• Translate operational data into actionable financial recommendations.

Skills

Advanced Excel

C-level partnerability

Proactive thinker

Manufacturing operations knowledge

Financial modeling

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

Infor/Syteline

Datarails

Power BI

Job description

Finance Manager/Business Partner

145k-185k

Direct Hire

Hybrid-Longmont, CO

Must Haves

• Relevant Bachelor's degree and 8+ years of FP&A experience, including forecasting, budgeting and business partnering.
• Prior support of manufacturing operations
• Understanding of manufacturing cost structure and inventory
• Advanced Excel
• Ability to engage and work with C Level management
• Be highly proactive

Plus

• Experience with Infor/Syteline, and/or Datarails
• Power BI
• Understanding of financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow and how they work together)
• MBA
• Experience in a PE backed company and/or high growth environment
• Basic understanding of accounting ( accruals, debits/credits) and/or cost accounting

Finance Manager/Business Partner – Operations

We are seeking a Finance Manager/Business Partner – Operations to serve as the primary financial advisor to our Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Facilities organizations within a fast-growing, private equity-backed manufacturing company.

This is a highly visible, manager-level role responsible for helping operational leaders improve manufacturing profitability, labor productivity, capacity utilization, inventory performance, and capital efficiency. The Finance Manager/Business Partner will own the financial planning, analysis, and performance management activities supporting the company’s operational functions and will translate operational data into actionable recommendations that improve gross margin, cash flow, and long-term scalability. Success in this role requires more than strong financial analysis. It requires operational business acumen, intellectual curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to influence decisions at all levels of the organization. The ideal candidate is a hands‑on finance leader who is comfortable challenging assumptions, identifying the root causes of performance, and building practical tools and processes that enable better business decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Operations & Manufacturing Finance Leadership

• Serve as the primary finance partner to Operations leadership.
• Own the financial planning, analysis, and performance management of manufacturing operations.
• Lead monthly operational financial reviews, including performance against budget, forecast, prior year, and operational targets.
• Analyze manufacturing costs, gross margin, productivity, and operational variances.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities and recommend actions to improve operational and financial performance.
• Partner with Operations leadership on productivity, cost reduction, quality, delivery, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Translate operational performance into clear financial implications and actionable business recommendations.
• Build strong working relationships with functional leaders, and executive management.
• Provide financial leadership for operational decisions while constructively challenging assumptions and proposed courses of action.

Manufacturing Cost & Productivity Analysis

• Develop and maintain labor productivity, efficiency, utilization, throughput, and cost-per-unit metrics.
• Analyze direct labor, indirect labor, manufacturing overhead, absorption, and production variances.
• Evaluate the financial impact of staffing levels, overtime, shift structures, production schedules, and changes in manufacturing volume.
• Partner with Operations to identify the root causes of unfavorable labor, material, overhead, and productivity variances.
• Support the development and maintenance of standard costs, including changes to labor rates, material costs, routings, bills of material, and overhead assumptions.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining product quality, delivery performance, safety, and customer service.
• Measure the financial impact of operational improvement initiatives and track results against established targets.
• Develop clear reporting that distinguishes temporary performance issues from recurring structural cost challenges.

Capacity Planning & Operational Forecasting

• Develop financial models that support capacity planning, production planning, staffing, and operational resource decisions.
• Evaluate plant and equipment utilization, production constraints, labor requirements, and future capacity needs.
• Support outsourcing, insourcing, automation, and manufacturing footprint decisions.
• Model the financial impact of changes in customer demand, production volumes, product mix, lead times, and manufacturing schedules.
• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, and Commercial leadership to align production capacity with forecasted demand.
• Improve operational forecast accuracy through close collaboration with manufacturing, supply chain, and business leadership.
• Identify potential capacity constraints and develop financially sound alternatives to support growth.
• Provide scenario analysis for changes in volume, product mix, labor availability, equipment utilization, and operating schedules.

Supply Chain, Inventory Support

• Partner with Supply Chain leadership to improve inventory performance, working capital, material availability, and supplier-related costs.
• Analyze inventory levels, inventory turns, days on hand, excess and obsolete inventory, safety stock, and purchasing trends.
• Develop reporting that improves visibility into raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory.
• Support inventory optimization initiatives while balancing customer service, lead times, production continuity, and working capital requirements.
• Evaluate the financial impact of purchasing decisions, supplier changes, freight costs, lead times, minimum order quantities, and supply chain disruptions.
• Partner with Operations, Commercial, and Supply Chain teams to identify and resolve risks related to demand, production, inventory, and customer delivery.
• Support the development of inventory reserves and provide analysis related to slow‑moving, excess, and obsolete inventory.

Capital Investment & Facilities Finance

• Develop financial business cases for capital expenditures, automation, equipment purchases, facility improvements, maintenance investments, and capacity expansion.
• Perform return on investment, net present value, internal rate of return, payback period, and scenario analyses for proposed capital projects.
• Challenge investment assumptions and ensure capital proposals are supported by clear operational, strategic, and financial benefits.
• Partner with Operations and Facilities leadership to prioritize capital investments based on operational need, strategic importance, risk, and expected financial return.
• Support long‑term facility, equipment, and manufacturing footprint planning.
• Improve visibility into capital spending commitments, project status, expected cash requirements, and realized returns.

Strategic Planning & Performance Management

• Own budgeting and forecasting for Operations.
• Develop annual operating plans and long-range financial models supporting the company’s operational and growth strategies.
• Present monthly financial results, operational KPIs, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions to executive leadership.
• Partner with functional leaders to establish performance targets and develop corrective action plans when results are below expectations.
• Provide scenario analysis supporting decisions related to volume, product mix, labor, sourcing, inventory, capacity, and capital investment.
• Connect operational performance to gross margin, EBITDA, cash flow, and working capital outcomes.
• Support leadership in developing and tracking manufacturing cost reduction, productivity, and operational improvement programs.

Build Scalable Finance Capabilities

• Build and continuously improve operational financial models, dashboards, reporting, and planning processes.
• Develop standardized reporting and KPI frameworks across Operations.
• Establish consistent definitions and reporting methodologies for productivity, utilization, capacity, inventory, manufacturing costs, and capital returns.
• Improve the speed, accuracy, consistency, and usefulness of operational reporting.
• Help establish a best‑in‑class Finance Business Partner organization.
• Drive continuous improvement across operational planning, cost analysis, forecasting, and performance management.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Business, or a related field.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, Operations Finance, Manufacturing Finance, Cost Accounting, Finance Business Partnering, or Corporate Finance.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, or Facilities leadership.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing finance concepts, including direct labor, overhead, absorption, standard costing, inventory, gross margin, and manufacturing variances.
• Strong financial modeling, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to translate complex financial analysis into clear business recommendations.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and executive presentation skills.
• Ability to operate independently, manage multiple priorities, and work effectively in a fast‑paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA, CPA, CMA preferred.
• Experience within manufacturing, industrial, technology, or product-based companies.
• Experience supporting multi‑site manufacturing operations.
• Experience within a high‑growth and/or private equity‑backed company.
• Advanced Excel, Power BI, Tableau, SQL, ERP, CRM, and planning systems experience.

What We're Looking For

We are not looking for someone to simply maintain existing FP&A processes. We are looking for a finance professional who enjoys building new capabilities, partnering with business leaders, and helping shape strategic decisions.

The successful candidate will be naturally curious, comfortable operating in ambiguity, willing to challenge assumptions, and motivated by helping the business grow through better financial insight.